The present invention relates to the field of audio systems, particularly personal music devices. More specifically, the present invention relates to a personal music device with a graphic display device for displaying contextual information in conjunction with the music recordings being played.
Music for personal use is conventionally recorded on tape cassettes or, more popularly, compact discs (CDs). These recording media, particularly compact discs, can contain substantial amounts of recorded music that can be played whenever desired.
Compact disc players and cassette tape player may be part of a high-quality home sound system, an automobile sound system, or a personal sound system. Most modern computers also include a compact disc drive that can play audio compact discs over the speakers of the computer. Personal portable sound systems such as the Walkman(copyright) or Discman(copyright) lines by Sony allow a user to play a cassette or compact disc audio recording virtually anywhere.
Conventionally, the commercial packaging with the tape or compact disc provides contextual information about the music. This contextual information includes, but is not limited to, cover art which may depict the artist or be conceptually or thematically related to the recorded music, printed lyrics for the music, identification of the artists or performers involved in producing the recorded music, notes about the music by the artists or songwriters, biographical information about the artists or songwriters, a listing of the titles of the musical pieces and their order on the recording, etc. For purposes of this discussion, contextual information includes any information about or related to the artists or music or other audio programming on a recording.
While this wealth of contextual information is conventionally available on the packaging of commercially available cassettes and compact discs, very little contextual information is usually provided on the cassette or compact disc itself. If the user is playing the cassette or compact disc on a portable player, it may be inconvenient to take the packaging along with the player for access to the contextual information.
For example, many people store a number of compact discs in a book-like portfolio with plastic pages containing pockets for retaining individual discs. Such portfolios are easy to travel with or keep in the user""s car and provide storage for a number of discs without the bulk of the disc""s original packaging. Unfortunately, the user is then left with only the minimal contextual information on the disc itself.
Additionally, even the minimal contextual information available on the cassette or disc itself is no longer available once the cassette or disc is inserted in a player, whether a personal or home system. Most cassette tape players contain no display of any kind for displaying information about the playback of the tape. Disc players typically have only a small liquid crystal display (LCD) which displays, for example, the number of the track being played, e.g. Track 1, Track 2, etc. and the elapsed time during which the track has been playing.
Compact disc players incorporated into computers often have a more sophisticated display available through the computer monitor. For example, the software which drives the CD drive may display on the computer screen a list of the available tracks. If the user wishes, he or she may type into the computer the titles of each of the tracks. These titles are then stored in the computer. However, this is obviously a burdensome procedure, especially if more than one or two discs are frequently played by the user.
Additionally, some commercially available computers include a compact disc drive capable of writing on optical discs. The optical disc being written may be a standard compact disc or a mini-disc (MD). With such a writable disc, a user may compile a disc-full of favorite songs from several other discs. Alternatively, the user may download recordings from a computer network, such as the internet, for storage on the writable disc.
Where the user has personally created a disc of musical recordings, there is no original packaging with contextual information available. At best, the user may make written notes to be kept with the casing of the disc to record some contextual information.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a method and apparatus for providing contextual information about a music recording while it is loaded in a player and without reference to the original packaging, if any exists.
Consequently, it is an object of the present invention to meet the above-described needs and others. Specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus allowing a user to more readily obtain and access contextual information for musical recordings. Additionally, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for allowing a user to more easily navigate through the available tracks on a musical recording.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows or may be learned by those skilled in the art through reading these materials or practicing the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be achieved through the means recited in the attached claims.
To achieve these stated and other objects, the present invention may be embodied and described as an audio system for reading a recording which contains both audio programming and contextual information about the audio programming. The system of the present invention preferably includes a processor driving a display device; and a reader for reading a recording medium on which audio programming and contextual information about the audio programming are recorded. The reader provides an audio signal to the processor representing the audio programming and a data signal representing the contextual information. The processor then displays the contextual information on the display device and supplies the audio signal to an audio transducer, e.g. a speaker or a port for headphones.
Preferably, the display device is a color liquid crystal display. The display device may also include a touch screen for receiving user input which is transmitted to the processor to control access to and display of the contextual information and playback of the audio programming.
In a touch screen is not used, the audio system preferably includes some other user input device for controlling the processor in accessing and displaying the audio programming and contextual information, respectively. Such a user input device may include a trackball and a selection button, or a four-way button or joystick and a selection button.
When a preferred embodiment, the audio system of the present invention is a self-contained, battery-powered personal audio system. Particularly, in a personal audio system, the reader of the present invention may be a mini-disc reader.
The present invention also encompasses a recording of music in combination with contextual information about the music. The recording comprises a recording medium having recorded thereon a plurality of musical works organized into numbered tracks with contextual information associated with the musical works being recorded on the recording medium also.
The present invention also encompasses a system for recording audio programming in combination with contextual information about the audio programming. The system includes a processor for receiving and organizing the audio programming and the contextual information; and a recorder connected to the processor for recording on a recording medium the audio programming in combination with the contextual information. Preferably, the recorder is a mini-disc recorder.
Preferably, the processor is connected to a computer network for receiving the audio programming or the contextual information over the network. Additionally, the processor may be connected to a recording media reader for reading from a recording medium the audio programming or the contextual information. If the system is used commercially, the processor may accept payment for compiling the audio programming and the contextual information on a recording medium.
The present invention also encompasses a method of playing a recording from a recording medium which has recorded thereon both audio programming and contextual information about the audio programming. The method includes the steps of retrieving both the audio programming and the contextual information from the recording medium with a player; and displaying the contextual information on a display device of the player. Preferably, the contextual information includes image data and the method further comprises displaying an image from the image data on the display device.
The method may also includes the steps of transducing the audio programming to render the audio programming as audible sound; and controlling the transducing with a user input device on the player. To facilitate access to the programming and contextual information, the method may include organizing the contextual information with one or more menus; displaying the one or more menus on the display; and accessing the contextual information using the menus and a user input device on the player.
The present invention also encompasses a method of recording audio programming by associating contextual information about the audio programming; and recording the audio programming and associated contextual information on a common recording medium so that the contextual information may be accessed by a player playing the audio programming. Preferably, the step of recording further includes recording the audio programming and associated contextual information on a mini-disc. Where a computer network is used to distribute musical works and associated contextual information, the method of the present invention may include the steps of obtaining either of the audio programming or the contextual information from the computer network.
The present invention also encompasses a method of transmitting audio programming in combination with contextual information about the audio programming comprising transmitting over a computer network a data signal in which is encoded an audio signal representing the audio programming and a contextual signal representing the contextual information. The step of transmitting a data signal including a contextual signal may further include transmitting within the contextual signal either an image signal, a text signal or both.